Worship with lips

The scripture talks about two ways of worshipping or following Father Yahuah. In Isaiah 29:13 Father said that people are seeking Him with their mouth and their lips and they have kept their heart (soul) away from Him. Matthew 15:8-9 & Mark 7:6-7; says that people draw near to Yahuah with their mouth and respect Him with their lips but their heart is far from Him and these people worship Him in vain as teaching the commands of men.

2 Kings 17:19 Yahudah (Judah) did not guard Yahuah's commands but followed made-made laws, other words they followed Yahuah by their mouth and lips but not by their heart.

Ezekiel 33:31 People hear Father's word but they do not do them for with their mouth they show a lot of love but their hearts pursue their greedy gain.

Messiah Yahusha (Jesus) called the Pharisees hypocrites as they knew Yahuah's will and spoke about it but they did not do them or they choose to do them their own way.

Today you hear many people say they are believers! So when I hear someone say they are a Christian, I asked myself "so what does that mean". Does it mean that when a person says he/she is a Christian, they follow Yahusha with their heart. Saying you are a Christian means nothing as it is just a word, equals lip talk. If you are a true believer of Messiah, you will not need to say anything as people will see the Spirit of Messiah in you. The light will shine out of your heart. Not everyone that says they are  followers of Messiah are true because the ways of their walk will be by mouth and by lips.

You will see them by the fruits they bear!

Matthew 7:17-19; A good tree produces good fruit but a rotten tree only produces wicked or bad fruit. True believers bear good fruit but wicked people only bear bad fruit. The people that bear bad fruit are sometimes people that know Yahuah and Yahusha's will but they are lukewarm, other words they follow Him when it suites them or with their mouth and lips. They will confess Messiah today and tomorrow partake in the sin of the world.

In Matthew 7:21-23; Messiah's warning to them, Verse 21; Messiah says that not everyone that says Master, Master ( Lord, Lord) will enter into the Kingdom. These are people that follow Yahuah with their mouth and lips. People that call themselves Christians but are not believers and do not live the truth. Verse 22; Messiah says that many people (priests, pastors, prophets, worship leaders and anybody that say they know Him) shall say that they prophesied in Messiah's Name, cast demons out in His Name or healed in His Name but verse 23, Messiah says that He will declare that He does not know them and that they should depart from Him as they work lawlessness (partaking in sin - not keeping the commands).

These are very strong words from Messiah Yahusha (Jesus) and these words should struck fear in each believer who is following Him by their mouth/lips only, He will tell them to depart from Him because they are living lawlessness.

The gate to life is narrow and very few find it, but the gate to destruction is very wide and sadly many are following it.

Those who have ears let them hear.

In the world

1 John 2:15-17; John says that we must not love the world or things in the world. Heavenly Father Yahuah's love is not in us if we love the world. The lust of flesh, lust of the eyes and the pride of life is not of Yahuah but the world (verse 15-17 Do not love the world nor that which is in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. Because all that is in the world – the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life – is not of the Father but is of the world. And the world passes away, and the lust of it, but the one doing the desire of Elohim remains forever.

What does John mean "from or in the world", is it not anything that is not of Father, anything that keeps us away from Yahuah, interacting with Him.

James 4:4 confirms what John says: Adulterers and adulteresses! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with Elohim? Whoever therefore intends to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of Elohim.

What are the things that keep us away from Yahuah, the lust of flesh/eyes and proudness. Anything that is manmade: Entertainment - TV, movies, money, music, casino, sport, making oneself pretty, movie stars, music stars, sport stars, hobbies to name a few.

If you spend more time with the above then it is lust! It is actually, idol worship - example; liking a movie star, keeping photos of him/her on your bedroom wall, or on your phone is considered idol worship.

How much time of the above is spent weekly doing and how much time is spent with Yahusha (Jesus). If our time spending on the things above is much more than spending time with Yahuah, we are from or in the world, Father's love is not in us, end of story.

Let's take Sunday as an example; majority people worship on this day which is on average three or four hours, the rest of the day on average is spent on movies, DVD's, in the mall, TV which involves sport, nature, sit-coms and so on - this is up to ten hours. What about the rest of the week, on average we spend very little time with Yahusha but plenty of hours on worldly things. Does watching a so called Christian movie count as spending time with Yahusha, "No" I believe not as you are watching other people, you are personally not interacting with the Creator.

Pride of our work, academy, sport, school achievements. Pride of our car, the garden, our body or looks etc. Father hates prideness  or being stiff necked. Not saying having a new car or a nice garden  or doing good at school/sports is wrong, it's when it becomes your sole goal in life that it becomes wrong. If we are pride, we do not have Yahusha in us. Verse 17 of 1 John2, The love of the world , the lust of it, is only for a short period, then it is gone forever but those who does the will of Yahuah remains forever.

What is the will or desire of our Heavenly Father; to know His desire/will is to spend time with Him.

Is worshipping Him 3-4 hours on a specific day, and maybe 1 or 2 hours in a week and also being a good person make us do His will or desire????? If we are spending time studying His word, we will know the answer is!

Truly accepting the Messiah is not only by our lips (talking) but through our hearts, by action and by obedience.

By our life style and our actions, people see or witness the Spirit of Messiah in us. The fruit we bear!

Satan's fall was due to pride and self-love - read Ezekiel 28:17. Pride has been the downfall of many people. Pride provides believers to be influenced to the deception of the enemy. Those who are proud do not willingly accept correction, or consider the objections and warnings of others. A sense of spiritual superiority causes them to disapprove the thoughts of those whom they view as being less spiritual, less intelligent or of a lesser rank.

Our desire should be to walk in faithfulness and set-apartness (holiness), ever living to do the will of the Yahuah.

Pride is a believers enemy.

Discipline

Definition of discipline: training people to obey rules, using punishment to correct disobedience, direction, bring into line, penalize, rebuke, improve the behavior. Definition of punishment: penalizing, disciplining, correction.

In Hebrews 12:5-11; tells us that Heavenly Father disciplines just like our parents disciplined us. Listen to what verse 5-6 says; "My son, do not despise the discipline of Yahuah, nor faint when you are reproved by Him, for whom Yahuah loves, He disciplines and punish every son whom He receives." Verse 7; If you endure discipline, Elohim (Almighty) is treating you as sons. For what son is there whom a father does not discipline? Verse 9; our own parents disciplined us and we respected them why then should Yahuah not discipline us. Verse 10; they are disciplined for a few days which is best for them, but He does it for our best interest, so that we stay on the right path. Verse 11; says that discipline is not pleasant at the time, but it is grievous, but afterward it brings fruit of righteousness to those who listen.

NB: I have written some of the verses above in my own words for better understanding but please read them for yourself.

This is the purpose of Him disciplining us, “flogging” us: to set us apart (make us holy), so that we bear the fruit of righteousness. He did the same to Israel.

If we do not allow Yahusha (Jesus) in us to bring us to set-apartness (holiness), so that we bear the fruit of righteousness, it would prove to have been all in vain – we shall not see Him! Hebrews 12:14 Pursue peace with all, and pursue apartness without which no one shall see the Master.

In Deuteronomy 8:2; The Creator Father led Israel in the wilderness for 40 years , to humble and prove them so that they could know what is right and wrong. In the Old Testament, we read in many places how Yahuah disciplined Israel, so does this mean He no longer disciplines us today.

Proverbs 3:11-12  My son, do not despise the discipline of Yahuah, and do not loathe His reproof; For whom Yahuah loves He reproves, as a father the son whom he delights in.

Deuteronomy 8:5-6 “Thus you shall know in your heart that as a man disciplines his son, so Yahuah your Elohim disciplines you, therefore you shall guard the commands of Yahuah your Elohim, to walk in His ways and to fear Him.

Believers are made in the image of Elohim, which means we have the same characteristics as our Creator. When we discipline our children, we do it not because we hate them but because we love them, so would it not be the same case with our Heavenly Father, He does it out of love.

Now days, people say we are no longer disciplined by our Creator. You hear people say that He allows bad things to happen, because it is our choices that cause bad things to happen. He has changed His ways now that Yahusha (Jesus) came to redeem us. He disciplined the Israelites and their enemies but today no longer are we disciplined!

I ask myself do we not have a Heavenly Father that is fair, loving and never changes. If He punished those people in the Old Testament and no longer disciplines me, than this means He does change and how fair is this towards the pass generations. The scriptures tells us He does not change, this includes our Messiah, so if He does change than the scripture is not correct, this cannot be!

If I look at the world today, discipline is being removed from the schools and most adults do not have discipline. You see today the lack of discipline in all walks of life no longer being part of us. The youth using drugs, smoking, sleeping around, no respect for parents and getting drunk, all because there is no discipline.

Did our Creator Father Yahuah really remove discipline so that there is chaos, I really do not think so.

Only Satan's world is without discipline. The word discipline has became a bad word to use, it is not acceptable in this time, the times have changed therefore discipline should also change, instead of using discipline we use a smoother word like tolerance. It is the same with the word, abortion or termination of pregnancy or removable of a unwanted fetus, it is a much smoother or softer word than the words "killing a baby."

We are only kidding ourselves, satan has twisted people's minds.

Yahuah will end this once and for all at judgment day and then His ways will be restored.

For those true believers, discipline is part of our walk with Yahusha (Jesus); we receive discipline and we give discipline, example parents to their children.

Bury or cremate?

To my fellow believers who belief in Yahauh and Yahusha, I write this message about what happens to our body upon death. Some people are buried and some people are cremated, so my question was what is the preferred manner according to Yahuah (scripture). The scripture does not tell us how we should be put to rest once we die but many places in scripture it speaks about burial and burning by flames (cremated).

Cremation historically is a practice of pagan people. In India the ashes of the cremated are spread over the “sacred” Ganges river to commune with the river deity.

Pagans believed that the rising flames of a cremation fire helped the soul rise to heaven.

In the Bible, burning of human beings was reserved for only two reasons: for serious offenders and for those who were cursed.

For instance, a man who marries both a woman and her mother was to be consumed in fire (Leviticus 20:14). A daughter of a priest who becomes a prostitute also was to be destroyed in flames (Leviticus 21:9).

An example of Yahuah (Heavenly Father) Himself carrying out this law was Sodom and Gomorrah, cities Yahuah destroyed by fire because they were practicing homosexuality and other sins. Furthermore, Israel burned the cities of their conquered heathen enemies in a demonstration of total, destructive judgment (see Jericho, Ai, Hazor, Laish, etc.)

Individually, in Joshua 7:15 we read that Achan sinned and brought judgment on Israel by taking items from Jericho that were devoted to fiery destruction. Israel stoned him and his family and then burned their bodies. The Scriptural practice for the upright was burial, not cremation.

Abraham bought a burial cave called Machpelah for himself and his family - Genesis 23.

 Joseph was embalmed and placed in a coffin - Genesis 50:26.

Yahuah Himself buried Moses - Deuteronomy 34:6.

King Saul's bones were spared and King David later buried them properly.

Moses took the bones of Joseph from Egypt as the sons of Israel had vowed to do.

Joseph was so devout that even at death he was concerned that his very bones would not remain in a pagan land. Joseph’s bones were buried in Shechem, where Yahuah first appeared to Abraham.

These examples show the regard we should have for bodily remains and provide a proper burial if at all possible.

Cremation completely obliterates the body and reduces it to nothing but ashes.

This is a mark of total destruction that Yahuah reserves for the truly wicked.

Malachi 4:3 reads, “And you shall tread down the wicked; for they shall be ashes under the soles of your feet in the day that I shall do, says Yahuah of hosts.”

Lack of a proper burial is a sign of Yahuah’s judgment.

See 1Kings 14:10-11 therefore, see, I am bringing evil to the house of Jeroboam, and shall cut off from Jeroboam every male in Israel, whether shut up or left at large, and sweep away the remnant of the house of Jeroboam, as one sweeps away dung until it is all gone.  Those of Jeroboam who die in the city the dogs do eat, and those who die in the field the birds of the heavens do eat, for Yahuah has spoken it!” ’ 

Jeremiah 7:33 “And the corpses of this people shall be food for the birds of the heavens and for the beasts of the earth, with none to frighten them away.

Ezekiel 29:5 “And I shall leave you in the wilderness, you and all the fish of your rivers. On the face of the field you shall fall, and you shall not be picked up or gathered. I shall give you as food to the beasts of the field and to the birds of the heavens.

The people will so hate the two witnesses in Revelation 11:9 that they won’t give them a burial.

Even our Saviour was wrapped in a linen cloth and put in a tomb owned by Joseph of Arimathaea.

Many other examples show that burial, not cremation, is the proper way.

True Believers attest to their belief in a future resurrection of the body by being buried to await the trumpet call when they will be given spirit bodies - 1Corinthians 15:52.

I pray we ask Yahuah for His guidance!

The Seven Spirits

And a Rod shall come forth from the stump of Jesse (Yishai), and a Sprout from his roots shall be fruitful - Isaiah 11:1.

Jesse is King David's father. The prophet Isaiah is talking about the Messiah who will come from David's line.

Seven of Yahuah's Spirits shall be upon the Messiah.

Isaiah 11:2, The Spirit of Yahuah shall rest upon Him - the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of Yahuah............

These seven Spirits were given to Yahusha the Messiah (Jesus).

Revelation 1:4 says favour (grace) to you and peace from Him (the Messiah) who is and who was and who is coming, and from the seven Spirits that are before His throne.

Revelation 3:1, says the Messiah has all seven Spirits of Yahuah.

Revelation 4:5, and seven lamps of fire were burning before the throne, which are the seven Spirits of Elohim.

Revelation 5:6, in the midst of the elders a lamb standing, as having been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of Elohim sent out into all the earth.

This is the Messiah at judgement day.

The seven Spirits are:

1) Spirit of Yahuah.

2) Spirit of wisdom.

3) Spirit of understanding.

4) Spirit of counsel.

5) Spirit of might.

6) Spirit of knowledge.

7) Spirit of the fear of Yahuah.

Believers get a down payment of the Set-apart Spirit (Holy Spirit) of Yahuah at baptism, the Messiah has the fullness of the Spirit of Yahuah.

Now He who has prepared us for this same purpose is Elohim, who has given us the Spirit as a pledge (down payment) of what is to come - 2 Corinthians 5:5.

Because all seven Spirits of Yahuah is upon Messiah, He will not judge after the sight of His eyes, for He will have true spiritual vision and judge the poor with righteousness. "See, My Servant whom I uphold, My Chosen One My being has delighted in! I have put My Spirit upon Him; He brings forth right-ruling to the nations (Yahuah talking about His Son the Messiah) - Isaiah 42:1.

Read also Isaiah 48:16-17 “Come near to Me, hear this: I have not spoken in secret from the beginning; from the time that it was, I was there. And now the Master Yahuah has sent Me, and His Spirit.” Thus said Yahuah, your Redeemer, the Set-apart (Holy) One of Israel, “I am Yahuah your Elohim, teaching you what is best, leading you by the way you should go.

Isaiah 61:1 The Spirit of the Master Yahuah is upon Me, because Yahuah has anointed Me to bring good news to the meek. He has sent Me to bind up the broken-hearted, to proclaim release to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound,.....

There is still so much to learn of these seven Spirits! If it is His will, I pray Yahuah will show me. For now I share what I have learnt so far.